David Cameron has kept his promise on the EPP grouping

Power needs to be repatriated from Brussels, not surrendered further.

Telegraph View

6:57PM BST 22 Jun 2009

When he became Conservative leader more than three years ago, the one commitment David Cameron made was that he would withdraw his party from the pro-federalist EPP grouping in the European Parliament. Many were sceptical that he would deliver on this promise; but now he has. Two weeks after the European elections returned 26 Tory MEPs, it was announced that they will form part of a new centre-Right bloc, with representatives from eight EU states.

This development is to be welcomed on several levels. First, as Mr Cameron prepares for what is likely to be a Conservative government, it is important that people can believe he means what he says. In many cases, voters' disenchantment with politics has less to do with the expenses scandal than a feeling we are all being taken for fools. Second, it is a good thing that the millions who vote for non-federalist parties should have a group in the parliament to represent their interests. The existing centre-Right and centre-Left blocs both have integrationist ambitions, with all they entail – an EU army and police force, a common judicial area and a single UN seat for Europe. Yet whenever the people of the Continent have been asked in referendums whether this is something they favour, they have invariably said no – even if their views have then been ignored or overturned, as seems probable with Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.

Another reason for the low esteem in which Parliament is held is that it has ceded so much power to Brussels; this needs to be repatriated, not surrendered further. The Tories' success in the elections this month means that the new body is far from being a rump: it has 55 members, making it the fourth largest bloc, and may attract more. This will give the Tories more clout than if they had remained a small part of a much larger group. Mr Cameron is to be congratulated.